New Zealand’s Regional
Development Conference - A springboard for growth

New
Zealand’s largest ever regional development conference

2.30 pm

29 November 2001

Rotorua Convention Centre

Before we start, please turn to page 33 in your booklets
where it says “ideas to follow up on”.

Now write down, if
you haven’t already two ideas you will take back from this
conference that you can follow up to build your region.

I
started this conference with the challenge that we have the
opportunity to take economic and regional development to the
forefront of New Zealand’s economic agenda.

We have made
a positive start.

Most of us involved in the conference
have missed the items on television running from breakfast
to late edition and across the major radio networks.

You
as ambassadors of regional development can now return to
your regions and provide more comment in your local
newspapers and other media.

If nothing else the positive
media coverage we have generated has given regional
development and your regional successes a much higher
profile.

We have seen that in the media coverage of this
conference.

Although this coverage shows that it is New
Zealanders who will make things happen for New Zealand.

The publicly-owned New Zealand media have been here.

Radio New Zealand and TVNZ are here because they
recognise their responsibility to tell New Zealanders about
what is really happening in New Zealand.

But the
resurgence of regional New Zealand has been ignored by
overseas-owned urban media.

They don’t seem to be
interested in telling the story of New Zealand’s success,
unless it is happening in downtown Auckland.

Canadian-owned TV3 haven’t been here.

The Irish-owned
New Zealand Herald hasn’t been here until a photographer
arrived today.

Rupert Murdoch’s INL hasn’t been here.

The same people used to tell us that the decline of
regional New Zealand was inevitable.

They were wrong, but
they won’t come out into the regions and see for themselves.

The New Zealand-owned news media have been here to tell
the story of how New Zealanders are taking responsibility
for our own solutions.

I would like this conference to
adopt by acclamation a resolution calling on the
overseas-owned big-city news media to leave their desks in
the concrete jungle, and come and see the positive
developments in regional New Zealand.

We call on them to
come and see the successes tell the stories of the real New
Zealand.

Although media publicity is important I think
all of us realise here that we are not so much interested in
column inches as in results.

Regional development will
have a much higher profile if we revolutionise the
communities in which we live.

If our children have
opportunities, and there is full employment, then New
Zealand will be a different country than the one we have
lived through over the last 20 years.

The video we have
just seen shows us in at least one region and industry the
work that has to be done, and the benefits that work will
produce.

Successful booming regions require hard work and
commitment. There will be setbacks, changes of approach and
at times there may even be the appearance of not moving
forward.

If there is one thing I have learnt in politics
it is that persistence is essential. You have to stick to
you guns.

An old saying says, the journey of a thousand
miles begins with the first step.

We are already on the
road, we need to make sure we stay on it.

Before I cover
what I see as the achievements of this conference and the
next steps we need to take, I want to cover a few of the
many themes and threads that have emerged.

Some of the
themes seem at first to be contradictory. For example we
need to have strong leaders, but everyone must work together
so that we all own the strategy.

We need to encourage
innovative entrepreneurs¡K but we need to have community
driven processes.

We need to start with a strong vision,
¡K but we need to be flexible to take in all points of view
and adapt where we are going.

Regions need to do it
themselves but Government must be involved and have a
partnership role.

One of the observations that has
emerged is that each region is both different and unique and
needs to take its own approach.

I am a politician who
clearly believes in delivering results. I believe strongly
in regional development. I believe in ideas that work.

Try something new. If it works don’t do more. If it
doesn’t work, change it.

As Peter Kenyon has said, in
each region, at different times, you need to utilise
different tools from a toolkit of approaches.

Allow
people to progress their own dreams but have an overall idea
of where you are going.

Ali Boswijk explained that the
Nelson Arts Marketing strategy markets the region but allows
artists to follow their own chosen direction. Although Arts
Marketing started the process local artists now feel they
own it. You have to admire anyone who can get a region of
artists to all agree to anything. I’ll be inviting Ali to
the Alliance Council meeting in December.

The Government
may need to be heavily involved for a time and then withdraw
and let the region own and direct itself.

The Chinese
have an old saying which says “the best leaders are not
known and the people say we did it ourselves’.

Clearly
ancient Chinese rulers didn’t have to get elected.

However Government can be a catalyst.

What role
central Government has in regional development is an
interesting issue.

For over 25 years Government has not
been involved and regions have been left to their own
devices. Now we are involved and regions are growing one or
two people are saying it’s really mostly due to the low
dollar and better farm prices.

I have heard several
projects described as community driven but at the same time
at other workshops as Government initiated. I think both
descriptions are correct - they are certainly not mutually
exclusive.

I know your work has been critical to the
changes that are taking place.

We’ll never know the
balance of what caused what to happen.

I see Government
as the regional development coach.

Where we need to help
the team get together and when the team is together we can
encourage and support it.

If the team needs some
particular skills we might help provide those.

If the
team is in dispute we might help mediate.

We can find out
and share what other teams are doing.

If the rules aren’t
working we might try and change them.

If the team is
doing brilliantly and is self supporting then we might just
step back and watch for a while, our involvement being
cheering from the sideline.

The key point is that central
Government should help you achieve what you want, which is
strong, self directed communities and economies. Don’t vote
for anything less.

I have enjoyed the rich contributions
that you have all shared in the last two days.

I liked
the idea from Gordon McVie that we are all have parts of a
regional development jigsaw.

Ernesto Sirolli was truly
inspiring on the need for passion and working together to
make entrepreneurship flourish.

I was also impressed with
Mike Tamaki talking about the regions all being chapters in
the book which is New Zealand.

Amoheare Houkamau
described the success Ngati Porou and its partnership work
as part of the Tairawhiti Development Taskforce.

I was
interested in Colin James talking about the many definitions
of regional development.

From what I have heard I would
like to suggest one definition.

Regional development is
the creation of strong, locally-directed and sustainable
regions which generate jobs and opportunities and meet the
economic, social and environmental needs of New Zealanders.

Maybe we don’t need a definition. After all, definitions
will differ depending on your approach.

What we do need
to be clear about though, is what we have achieved at this
event.

We have all met people and created new links and
relationships which can benefit our regions.

You have all
recorded at least two good ideas that you can implement on
your return to your communities.

That means we now have
1,200 action points. If even a tenth of them bear fruit this
will be a significant contribution to our local and regional
communities economy.

We have seen some excellent displays
and discussed relevant case studies in workshops.

If you
haven’t been inspired or had your passion renewed by
something you have heard here then you need a holiday or a
new job.

You have all had an opportunity to test and
refine your views with your colleagues.

You have also
been able to share your views with other regions, the
Ministry of Economic Development, Industry New Zealand,
government agencies and Government Ministers. I can tell you
we have made comprehensive notes and have listened to what
you have said.

I came here wanting to seek views on ways
to improve the Regional Partnerships Programme in the next
budget.

I already indicated that I will look at:

-
providing greater encouragement and facilitation for the
development of clusters;

- better coordination for the
range of government business assistance measures in the
regions, particularly to high growth companies; and

From what I have
heard here these seem to be heading in the right direction.

In addition one idea that has been suggested is seed
funding to have New Zealanders take ideas and programmes
around other regions.

This could allow regions to get
advice and support from local heroes. You are the experts
and we need to continue the sharing of ideas we have started
here.

I support this idea and will ask the Ministry of
Economic Development to investigate how this might be done.

When I opened this conference I noted that the last
conference that addressed regional development was in 1969.

We cannot wait that long again. I don’t think I’ll be
much use to you it’s in 2033! I will propose that forward
budgets schedule another one some time in the next two
years. Rather than “a springboard for growth’ I think the
theme for that one should be “how to manage regional growth
that is larger than you could ever have imagined.’ Well
that’s a working title.

Of course we’ll need a venue that
can accommodate over 1,000 delegates so I’ll be looking for
bids from regions who have built those facilities.

Is
this a bit of a dream? Perhaps.

I want to finish with a
quote from Nelson Mandela “our biggest fear is not that we
are weak but that we are powerful beyond our wildest
dreams.”

Thank you on behalf of New Zealand and New
Zealanders.

Let’s go out and build our nation and make it
the best small country in the world.

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